Hahah :) They are basically glorified and improved tissue paper. The sheets are translucent light blue in color at first, and as you use it and oil gets absorbed it turns to transparen't light blue so you know that part has been used. WIthout looking into how these sheets are made, I would say the color change indication is probably the biggest feature of these sheets. I've also used napkins from Starbucks or the Coffee Bean for the same purpose and I personally think FOR THE PRICE DIFFERENCE, I'd rather just use those napkins. They are SUPER thin and light, and that allows it absorb oil and show where the oil was absorbed. But if money was unlimited I do love these sheets for oil blotting.

They do look like tissue paper, but they are not! They have a more "plastic" feel than tissue paper, and they do an amazing drop blotting (and holding onto) the oil. You can really see it on the sheet when you're done.

No, they're not tissue paper. It's a unique type of paper, not really sure how to describe it. Since they're so expensive, when I ran out I resorted to using sheets of white tissue paper cut into squares. Worked a little, but not nearly as well as the Clean & Clear sheets.